Aria Chocolate Tart

Oh yeahhhh babyyyy! finally i did it! The tart that i hv been eyeing for the past oh dreadful weeks.. it was love at first sight for both hubster and me.. i was smitten by it and judging by the way it looks.. i know for sure.. this is it... my search for a luscious chocolate tart that has three delish chocolate layers ends here .. period! ohhhh thank you Citrus and Candy.. u got me at Hello! hahaha

Lets not talk more.. enjoy the pics.. enjoy the recipe cos i know for sure.. we will be having this tart over and over for the next two days! passt - u hv got to share this super rich chocolate tart with ur loved ones cos this tart is freaking devine.. plus sharing is caring ahaks!

Oh bef i go.. please please go and do urself a favour.. get the best chocolate there is.. i used a mixture of Cocoa Berry 66% and also Valrhona Equatorial (55%) for this tart.. u can also use a mixture of Valrhona Manjari 64% and Valrhona Jivara (40%) if u hv any on hand.. we are dark chocolate ppl.. so 66% and 55% works well with our tastebuds and ohhh.. i used Valrhona Cocoa Powder for my chocolate pastry and sauce! woot woot!

Aria Chocolate Tart
[Chocolate Pastry]
320g plain flour
60g cocoa
160g caster sugar
Pinch salt
160g cold butter, diced
2 eggs

[Chocolate tart mixture]
210g good quality dark chocolate (with high cocoa content), chopped
60g Valrhona Jivara chocolate, chopped – if unavailable then just use another 60g of the dark chocolate
60g butter, diced
315ml cream
3 eggs
2 egg yolks

[Chocolate glacage]
300g dark chocolate, chopped
240ml cream
300ml chocolate sauce (recipe below)

[Chocolate sauce - for the glacage]
60g cocoa
200ml water
120g caster sugar
25g butter, diced

Method

To make the pastry, preheat oven to 180°C. Place the flour, cocoa, sugar, salt and butter in the bowl of a food processor and process until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the eggs and process until dough just starts to come together.

Turn on to a lightly floured surface and gently knead until just smooth. Shape into a disc and cover with plastic wrap, then place in the fridge for 10 minutes to rest.

Roll out the pastry to a 15 x 40cm rectangle, about 3mm thick. Line a shallow rectangle 10 x 34cm (base measurement) fluted tart tin with a removable base with the pastry and trim any excess. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes to rest.. I used mini round tart tin..

Line pastry with baking paper and fill with rice. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove paper and rice and bake for a further 5-10 minutes or until firm to touch.

To make the tart mixture, preheat oven to 160°C. Place chocolate and butter in a bowl.

Place cream in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Pour cream over chocolate in bowl and stir until smooth, stir in eggs.

Pour chocolate mixture into tart shell up until about 3/4 full (you’ll need to leave enough room for the glacage). Bake for 25 minutes until the centre has just cooked and the top has just set. Take the tart out of the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before topping with the chocolate glacage (recipe follows after). Refrigerate tart in fridge until firm before serving. (i baked mine for 15mins at 150C)

For the chocolate sauce (for the glacage), combine cocoa, water and sugar in a saucepan and stir over heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, stir in butter until melted and mixed. Strain through a sieve placed over a bowl and set aside.

To finish the glacage, place chocolate in a large bowl. Place cream in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Pour cream over the chocolate in the bowl and stir until smooth. Add in the chocolate sauce that you just made and stir (recipe above). When the completed tart has cooled, spoon or pour the glacage over the tart and place in fridge until firm.

Do hop over to Masterchef where she got the original recipe fm.. hv a wonderful weekend kids!